JPH0340246Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an endoscope incorporating a solid-state image sensor.

[Conventional technology]

Recently, there have been flexible endoscopes for medical and industrial use that have a solid-state imaging device built into the rigid head portion of the endoscope and use a monitor to observe the inside of the endoscope. In such an endoscope, the rigid part of the head is equipped with an observation window, an illumination window, and a forceps port as necessary.
It has air/water spouts, suction ports, etc., and a flat, hard solid-state image sensor built into it.

Then, in this head rigid part, a ring-shaped piece is successively connected via a rotation fulcrum to form an angle part, and in the case of bidirectional flexibility, the rotation fulcrum is continuous in the same direction, 90° for 4-way flexibility
The positions of the rotational fulcrums are shifted one after the other.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

When an endoscope is inserted into a body cavity for medical use, for example, a rigid head portion with a small diameter and a short length is easier to insert and has better operability. However, as mentioned above, the solid-state image sensor is flat and large, and furthermore, the solid-state image sensor has a continuous flexible substrate, so the rigid part of the head becomes elongated and the flexible substrate is subjected to unreasonable stress when the angular part is bent. This may cause an accident such as disconnection of the wire at the connection point with the image sensor or cause a short circuit.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention is a flexible endoscope in which a solid-state image sensor is built into a rigid head part. A feature is that a substrate is arranged.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, the bending direction of the first piece of the flexible tube part that is continuous with the head rigid part matches the bending direction of the flexible substrate, thereby effectively reducing the head rigidity. This makes it possible to shorten the length of the angle section, resulting in an endoscope with excellent bendability and operability of the angle section.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Figures 1A and B are perspective views of the main parts, and Figure 2 is a cutaway side view of the angle part in a bent state. 1 is a rigid head part, and 2 is a ring-shaped ring connected to the rigid head part 1. It is a piece body, and various shapes other than those shown in the figure are known. The head rigid part 1 has an observation window 3, an illumination window 4, and other openings such as a forceps opening, an air/water jet opening, a suction opening, etc. as necessary, and also has a flat and rigid solid-state image sensor 5, and a flexible substrate. 6
are connected. Reference numeral 7 denotes a reflecting mirror provided as necessary, which optically connects the observation window 3 and the solid-state image sensor 5. As shown in, it is not necessary.

2 is a ring-shaped piece that constitutes the angle part 8 of the flexible tube as described above, and is rotatably connected by a rotational fulcrum 9, and when flexible in four directions is possible, the piece is 2 are sequentially arranged with the rotational fulcrum 9 shifted by 90 degrees.

Therefore, as shown in the figure, the flexible substrate 6 is arranged parallel to the rotational fulcrum 9 of the first piece 2, so that the direction of rotation of the first piece 2 and the direction of flexibility of the flexible substrate 6 are parallel to each other. They are connected to the solid-state image sensor 5 in a matching manner. 10 is a flexible substrate 6
This is an electric wire connected to the

According to the above configuration, when the angle portion 8 of the flexible tube is bent by operating the operation wire (not shown),
If the direction of bending is the direction of rotation of the first piece 2, the direction is the same as the flexible direction of the flexible substrate 6, so that the bending can be performed without difficulty.

The rotational fulcrum 9 of the second piece 2 is away from the connecting portion of the solid-state image sensor 5 of the flexible substrate 6 and becomes or is close to the connecting portion of the electric wire 10, so that it does not receive large resistance when bending. This allows for smooth bending operations.

[Effect of idea]

According to the present invention described in detail above, the direction in which the flexible substrate connected to the solid-state image sensor placed in the rigid head part is arranged parallel to the rotational fulcrum of the ring-shaped piece connected to the rigid head part. As a result, the direction of rotation of the first piece coincides with the direction of flexibility of the flexible substrate, and as a result, the total length of the rigid head portion can be shortened.

By shortening the rigid head portion, it becomes easier to insert the device into a body cavity, and the operability is greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of essential parts showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cutaway side view showing a state in which the angle portion is bent. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Head rigid part, 2... Piece body, 3... Observation window, 4... Illumination window, 5... Solid-state image sensor, 6...
Flexible board, 8...angle part, 9...rotation fulcrum.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] An angle part is constructed by incorporating a solid-state image sensor in a rigid head part, and connecting pieces sequentially to the rear end of the rigid head part so as to be rotatable via a rotation fulcrum. In the endoscope, the rotational fulcrum of at least the first bridge body connected to the head rigid part and the flexible substrate surface continuous to the solid-state image sensor are positioned parallel to each other, and the rotating direction of the first bridge body is aligned with the rotating direction of the first bridge body. An endoscope with a built-in solid-state image sensor, characterized in that the direction of flexibility of the flexible substrate matches the direction of the flexible substrate.